Both Windows 7 and Windows Vista feature a little black book. But unlike former dates, the black book helps you keep track of all the wireless networks your computer has gone out with. You can see the[more…]

The Bluetooth wireless networking standard has been around since the 1990s. It’s not as popular on the PC as it is on the Mac, considering that a lot of PC laptops don’t bother coming with Bluetooth hardware[more…]

To see which Bluetooth devices are connected to your computer, click the Bluetooth icon in the notification area and choose the command Show Bluetooth Devices. You see the Bluetooth Devices window, which[more…]

Setting up a wireless base station works similarly to configuring a router for a wired network. Each router has a different set of instructions for setting it up and making connections. All the steps that[more…]

As long as you have all the hardware, you can quickly set up any wireless network. Here is everything you need to know about the hardware you need to have in place before you use Windows to configure the[more…]

In order to connect your computers wirelessly, all the gizmos on your wireless network must adhere to the 802.11 wireless networking standard. The number 802.11 refers to the methods and protocols used[more…]

The ultimate network fix is to restart your entire network. It’s a simple thing to do — not a regular activity or routine maintenance — but a general cure-all for many network ills. The procedure works[more…]

A network printer is any printer up for grabs on the network. Officially, it’s a shared printer. It can be a printer connected to a PC on the network, where the computer operator has elected to share[more…]

Putting a hard drive up for grabs on the network is done primarily by sharing folders on your computer with other computers on the network. But it’s possible to connect a hard drive directly to the network[more…]

Routers, like all computer gizmos, have both hardware and software setup. After you connect the router, the next step is to configure it. Primarily, and for security reasons, the most important thing is[more…]

The software that controls the network hardware — specifically, the network interface card (NIC) — is a driver. Rarely do you need to update this software. In fact, a routine or security update is included[more…]

To disconnect from the network, simply unplug the Ethernet cable from the PC. Poof — the network, and the Internet, is gone. A small warning bubble may appear in the notification area. It’s also your visual[more…]

Occasionally, you may lose your connection to the Internet. The local network is okay: You can still access network printers. And accessing the hard drives is just fine, but the Internet is completely[more…]

Each Lion Server service has a standard port associated with it. For example, the default port for IMAP e-mail is TCP port 143. When used with SSL encryption, the default IMAP port is TCP 993. Some services[more…]

Lion Server has some special features for Apple’s wireless Internet routers, Apple’s AirPort Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule. In the Server app, you can configure the router’s firewall and add extra[more…]

You use Server Admin to configure a firewall on Lion Server. Using Server Admin to configure a firewall is actually easy. You can click to select services to allow through the firewall, as well as add[more…]

Server Admin lets you set which services you want to allow through the Lion Server firewall by selecting them from a list. The list of services is much larger in Server Admin. If your service isn’t in[more…]

If you want to get into deep firewall-configuration territory, you can use the Advanced tab of Firewall Settings in Lion Server to create your own rules that describe what to do with incoming network traffic[more…]

An address group in Lion Server can be a single IP address, such as for a device or server, and it can also be a range of addresses designated by an address and subnet mask. An address group can have multiple[more…]

If you’re not using network address translation (NAT) on another device to connect your network to the Internet, you can run it on Lion Server in conjunction with Lion Server’s firewall. You use Server[more…]